Receptacle



R. A. LEE

RECEPTACLE Sept. 9, 1952 Filed Feb. 12, 1948 Patented Sept. 9, 1952 rUNIT ED STATES PAT Q I I 'RECEPTAC'LE t Reynold A. Lee, Washington, D. 0. Application February 12, 1948, Serial No. man

The present invention relates to new and use ful improvementsin receptacles and more partioularly to such improvements in a receptacle for garment hangers of the type having a garment supporting portion and a suspension device.

More specifically, the invention contemplates the provision of a receptacle for a plurality of garment hangers of the general type which includes a transversely extending garment supporting portion and a centrally disposed hook by which the hanger may be suspended from a suitable support. In various types of establishments handling wearing apparel for men, women, and children, such as clothing stores, specialty shops, department stores, clothing manufacturers, cleaning and pressing establishments, and others, there is constant and repeated use of garment hangers in the placing of garments thereon and in removing the hangers from garments which are sold or otherwise disposed of. As an example, in a womens clothing store, new garments are received in a receiving section and these garments are usually shipped from the distributor or manufacturer without any hangers. When the garments are unpacked for distribution within the store, hangers must be applied thereto. Most of the hangers are collected as garments are disposed of throughout the store and returned to the receiving section or a storage area awaiting further use in the continuing cycle. It isthe general practice to collect the hangers throughout the various departments or sections of the store in cartons of one type or another into which the hangers are indiscriminately deposited. These hangers thus collected in cartons become tangled with one another so that when it is desired to remove the hangers for further use considerable time and effort is required for untangling the hangers from one another.

With the above in mind, one of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide for the efficient handling of garment hangers in the use and reuse thereof by eliminating time consuming efiorts required in removing hangers from an indiscriminately accumulated group for further use.

Another object of theinvention is to provide a receptacle for garment hangers assuring orderly accumulation and stacking of the hangers therein whereby to facilitate removal or dispensing of hangers therefrom for further use.

A further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle of the above type which closely conforms to a sufficient portion of the general 5 Claims. (Cl. 2( I61) ers during deposit in the receptacle so as to facilitate orderly stacking thereof without en tangleme nt therebetween.

closely conforms to a sufiicient part of the general shape of the garment supporting portion of the hanger to facilitate stacking thereof in the receptacle without entanglement.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle of the above type wherein the body portion of the receptacle islongitudinally slotted to permit the suspension hooks of the hangers to extend therethrough during stacking and without entanglement. i

A still further object of the invention is to provide a receptacle of the" above type which includes a guiding surface adapted to cooperate with the suspension hooks of the hangers to further guard against entanglement thereof.

"The invention still further aims to provide a receptacle of the above type which is of relatively simple andinexpensive construction, which is light in' weight, and which occupies aminimum amount of space so as to enable it-to be placed at convenient locations throughout the" store or other establishment, for collection orstorage of hangers. i

The'above and other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will be hereinafter more fully pointed out. i p

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views r Figure 1 is a front elevation showing one form of receptacle; t

Figure 2 is a top plan view of Figure 1 showing the receptacle positioned next to a wall, partition or the like;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1; i

a Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a front elevation ofa modified form of receptacle; and

Figure 6 is a horizontal transverse section of, it will be seen that the body portionof the receptacle or container forming thesubject matter of the present invention is generallytriangw lar in transverse section and includes a rear wall shape of the garment hangers to guide the hangselves [0 having the longitudinal edges thereof merging into relatively short side wall portions l2, [4 which extend forwardly or outwardly from the rear wall l0 and are substantially parallel to one another. The side wall portions l2, [4 merge into front closing Wall portions it, Hi, respectively, which extend inwardly toward one another at a relatively small angle with respect to the plane of the rear wall [0. The front wall portions' it, 18' have thelongitudinal' free edges thereof terminating short of one another so as to provide a longitudinal slot 20 extending vertically and centrally of the body portion. The adjacent free edges of the front Wall portions. 56,

l8 are preferably curled inwardly upon themextending strengthening beads 22, 24, respectively. ,Simi:

to provide longitudinally larly, the top edge portions 26, 28 of the side wall portions and the front wall portions are turned downwardly over the adjacent surfaces thereof to also provide a strengthened edge, asmore particularly'show'n in Figure 3. g

1 The top of the body portion is left open, al though a removable cover maybe .provided,,if,de sired, and the bottom thereof is closed by aseparate bottom wall 3b, as more. particularly shown in F'igure .4, This bottom wall .is se'cured within the-body portion by means of a shaped angle strip 32 .havin a Vertical flange portion. 34 disposed exteriorly and immediatelyadjacent thejbottom edge ofthe body portion anda horizontalflange portion -'56- extending beneath'the adjacentedge of the bottom wall 36 to support thesame. The angle-strip32 may be secured to the body portion in any suitable manner, as by welding, riveting and the like, or' by passing securing elements into the bottom wall 30. In this form 'of the invention,. it willbe apparentthat the body portionof thereceptacle may be formed from a single sheet of material, such as sheet aluminum,

thingauge stainless steel, fibre board, laminated structures, or the like. I It will also be apparent that instead of providing the separate bottom. wall, as shown in this form of the invention, the metal sheet may have an initial shaping-toim;

clude a bottom wall which can be bentto close the bottom end of the body portion and suitably secured thereto as by. welding or the like. The

rear wall If may, if desired, be provided with an opening 38 near the top thereof to serve asa convenient hand-hold by which the, receptacle 7 can be transported.

--In this'form of the invention, reference beinghad particularly to Figure 2, there isshown a garment hanger of the type including a wooden,

ultimate dispensing, the hangers are slipped in the;open topof the receptaclewith the extremities-of the arms'42, 45 thereof snugly disposed immediately within the inner surfaces of the side wallportions l2, land within the adjacent innersurface of the rear wall Hi. By reason of the particular shaping of the receptacle body portion, it. willbe, seen that the inner surface thereof will closely conform. to .theadjacent surfaces ofthe garmentsupporting portions 42., M of the hanger and the ends thereof with the suspension hooks extending through the longitudinal central slot 28. Thus, the hangers will be confined and guided during deposit in the receptacle so that they will become stacked therein in an orderly fashion and Without any tangling between one another, the suspension hooks freely sliding within the slot 2%. In removing the hangers it will be readily seen that one or more can be conveniently removed'up'wa'rdly through the open end 'of the receptacle by merely'grasping the hooked ends or the body portions Within the container and sliding the same. upwardly.

I Injigures 5 and 6, there is shown a slightly particularly lends itself to being formed by the phenolic COl'ldBIlSfltlOllproducts such as, urea formaldehyde; and fibrous materials. ln this form of the invention the body portion includes a rear wall 0a and forwardly extending relatively short side walls 20., Ma which merge into front wall-portions 16a, 58a. The longitudinal free edges of the front wall portion Isa, ltuterminate short of one another to provide a slot 20a extending vertically and longitudinally of the'body per-f tion. One of the inclined front-wallportions [6a may, if desired, have the longitudinal edge thereof slightly thickened as at 50. for strengthening purposes. The longitudinal edge of the other inclined front wall portion l8a may be provided with a forwardly extending rib portion 52 of slightly thickened cross section for strengthening purposes. The free longitudinal'end ofthe rib portion 52 may be slightly'enlarged as at 54 for purposes to be hereinafter pointed out.

In the form of the invention shown in Figures 5 and 6,-there is shown, for convenience, the conventional wire hanger which is of substantially. triangular external shape with a horizontal portion 5% andinclined arms E8, 66, which-are joined as at 62 toprovidea stem or neck portion having the outerend thereofformed into a supporting hook 64. With this form of the invention, it Will be seen that the hooked end 6 1 of a hangerpositioned within the receptacle will closely engage around the enlarged edge portion. 54'iof the'rib portion'52so that this enlarged edge portiOncooperates with the hanger hook 84 to provide an additional guide ,or anti-twistingmeans for properly positioningthe hangers as they are deposited in the receptacle. Thus, the hangers will' be stacked in an orderly manner with no interengagementor tangling therebetween.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily apparent that the'present invention provides a thoroughly eflicient receptacle for holding garment hangers in accurately stacked condition. While the wall portions 12,14 have been designated as side walls, they'actuallyconstitute a part of the front closing walls, the relative positioning of the various wall portions being such as to closely confine sufiicient parts of the hangers, such as the ends. of the garment supporting portions thereof, toassure the: orderly stacking thereof one upon another in the receptacle without any tanglingtherebetween. With the hang.- ers thus accurately stacked in the receptacle, one

. or more may be removed in an orderly fashion without the danger of any tangling.

It is to be understood, of course, that various.

types of hangers may be stacked in the receptacles and that the wire hanger shown in Figure 6 can be stacked in the receptacle shown in Figures 1 and 2. Likewise, the type of hanger shown in Figure 2 can be stacked in the type of receptacle shown in Figures 5 and 6. The rib portion 52 and the end 54 thereof shown in connection with the receptacle of Figures 5 and 6 serve, in cooperation with the hook end of a hanger, to further resist twisting while being deposited in the receptacle. It is, of course, obvious that a similar type of arrangement adapted for cooperation with the hanger hook could also be applied to the form of the container shown in Figures 1 and 2 by extending the longitudinal free edge of one of the front wall portions.

While certain forms of the invention have been shown for purposes of illustration, it is to be clearly understood that various changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A receptacle for the orderly stacking therein and removal therefrom of garment hangers of the type having a suspension hook and laterally extending garment supporting portions; and comprising a body portion generally conforming to the shape of the hangers, said body portion including a rear wall portion and a pair of front wall portions extending forwardly from said rear wall portion'and inclined toward each other to closely confine the laterally extending portions of the hangers, the free longitudinal edges of said front wall portions being longitudinally ribbed substantially from the top to the bottom thereof and spaced apart to permit the passage therebetween of the suspension hooks of the hangers stacked in the receptacle.

2. A receptacle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the edges of said front wall portions are turned body portion generally conforming to the shape of the hangers and including front wall portions extending toward one another with the free longitudinal edges thereof spaced apart whereby to provide a slot through which the suspension hooks of the stacked hangers extend, the longitudinal edge of one of said front wall portions having a forwardly extending rib cooperating with the hooked ends of the stacked hangers to assist in preventing tangling thereof.

5. A receptacle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the outer end of said rib is enlarged toclosely fit within the hooked ends of the stacked hangers to assist in preventing tilting thereof when deposited in the receptacle.

REYNOLD A. LEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

